Viral Clockwork
by The Broken Keyboard
Summary: ...When the Paradise we have long dreamed for will arrive..." Though those words were not spoken by her, Elizabeth Greene longed for one. Her children will aid her, but she needs her Son for her dream to take form. Will Alex fight, or give in?


_**Note: Wrote while listening to Clockwork Little Happiness, by Akira Yamaoka. I hope you enjoy the story if you listen to it **_

Silence, that's all there was when they met. Blood and other unnamed matter streaked the wide streets and sidewalks of Canal St….Buildings and even a church were encased in the cords of Redlight, their broad and bold features now worn down by the virus, eating that the material that construction workers worked so caringly for. Surprisingly, however, the church clock still worked like a charm.

The loud and bold gongs of the church bell rang through the empty and infested street, an ominous sound. The irony of it all….

_DING…DONG…DING…DONG…_

12:00 noon, and yet not a single soul in sight.

On one side, there was an army, an army of Infected. Hunters roared their brutish yet mighty cries, and yet they (for once) cooperated with the eager and feisty Infected. Women and men were disfigured and stained with blood not only from humans, but from their own kind. Their soft yet audible roars echoed through the emptiness, and the loud gong of the church bell sent yet another surge of cries through the Hunters, infusing a large yet contained amount of adrenaline in them.

And at the center of it all, Elizabeth Greene…. Her dainty and petite features hardened by the years of experimentation and abuse, she could only but stare blankly at what stood to the opposite side of the street. Completely, her brain was fried due to both the experiments and the rabid cancer that flowed through her body. It became her. It was her. No longer was she Elizabeth Greene to herself, but now she was known as Mother. Her duty was to ensure the protection of her children, and made sure that they obeyed her, no matter what happened. Greene's face was bruised and battered, but through it all one could see that, amazingly, she cracked neither a smile nor frown, but somewhat in between. What people saw in her mind was nothing, but what Greene saw in her mind was a dream.

A dream of a Paradise.

_DING…DONG…DING…DONG…_

"_My children,"_ Greene's voice boomed through the street, amplified by the proud screams and battle cries of the Infected. _"The time of has finally come…We shall all live in harmony now, as one, and the awakening of a new era shall soon arrive…."_ Along with her own voice, a dozen others followed after her, the people she consumed, they were with her; not only through body and mind, but in voice also. The calm and serene voices threaded and bonded with hers, forever being there in her presence. Until she died, they would always serve her…

"_The first of a new generation shall finally bond with us, bringing us one step closer…" _ And on the other side of the street stood Alex Mercer, hands in his pockets and head hung low, obscuring his face. His ears twitched and perked as he listened to Greene's entrancing speech. Lulled but not brainwashed, Alex Mercer had no choice. There was no hope for Manhattan, and even though he saved the small island from being nuked, killing everyone, even him (without people there would be nothing to consume, killing him). By the time he saved Manhattan, nearly half the population was still infected, bringing both his and the military's goal no further.

There had to be another way to end the pain…

_DING…DONG…DING…DONG…_

And apparently, this was the way._  
_

Again, triumphant roars bellowed out of the mouths of one hundred eager Infected, proud to have their brother finally take a step in the right direction. Alex Mercer looked up, his face unemotional, and stared into the eyes of Elizabeth Greene. His cold blue eyes met her soft brown ones, and for an instant, he could feel the emotion running through her. Her eagerness in all of this, the pride and almost animalistic sense transferred from her to him. A shiver crawled up his spine, leaving Greene to take advantage and stare at the momentary sign of weakness. She did not think badly of her Alex as he did this. The sight of her was intimidating. Even she had to admit it.

"Shouldn't have let her see that," Mercer thought, still showing no emotion. Behind Greene and her army of Infected, the blood-orange sun rose, illuminating them. In Mercer's eyes, it made them look…holy.

Almost.

_DING….DONG….DING….DONG…_

Greene licked her dried and cracked lips, her tongue catching the caked blood from the corner of her mouth. Still staring at Alex with an intensive silence, she carried on to her little speech.

"_Tonight is a night for celebration, for the one who can aid us in bringing forth our goal is him…." _She pointed to Mercer, the Blacklight Virus.

"_My son…"_

And with that, the roars became deafening, the Hunters pounded their chests, and the others, twitched uncontrollably, shrieked with satisfaction. Straightening his back to the fullest, chest slightly puffed out, Mercer stood tall and proud, the cries filling him up to the fullest, and his ego ten times bigger than it previously was.

"_My son...With him and I and all of you, my children, we shall be unstoppable."_ Greene held out her hand, reaching for Alex.

"_Come with us…and celebrate in the glory."_

Alex Mercer did not hesitate. He strode over, slowly, almost teasing the crowd. As he walked, Mercer thought of a lot of things.

Was this right?

_Of course…_

Was this humane?

_It's the only way…_

Will there truly be a haven within this nightmare?

_Yes…_

The Blacklight Virus strode over to the road of illuminated blood, and reached his hand out for Greene's.

"Mother…" Mercer said, his voice graveled, the distance between their hands closing in as he walked towards her. God, it was so painfully slow…

"_My son…"_ Greene said, her voice was the only one that Alex could hear out of all of the numerous voices that conjoined with hers.

_DING….DONG…DING…DONG…_The church bells finally stopped, ringing no more as Alex and Greene's fingers were mere centimeters away. The Infected roared no more, and the cries and the bells were replaced with, again, a dead silence.

12:01 noon, and new era was approaching...Paradise.

"_We'll be together forever…"_

"Forever…"

_"Like Mother..."_

"Like Son."_  
_

_**---**_

**_This is more of a choose-your-own-ending....ending. Did Alex really go to Elizabeth Greene's side? Or did he just say "Ah, eff this." And slice Greene at the last moment? Either way, you think of what happened. As I said, this was inspired by Clockwork Little Happiness. For some reason, it fitted what I had wrote down. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the story :) write a review if you like, and if you don't, that's fine. I aim to write fanfics that people will actually like. And, my dearies, I hope you liked this fanfiction._**

**_P.S., Someone smite me for that "Paradise" stuff. I knew I was getting it from Claudia, since she DOES say it at the end of the song. But it seemed to fit Greene so well...almost to a T....  
_**


End file.
